Courts could get new powers to force ISPs to block access to illegal
file-sharing websites, according to an EU legal expert

Courts could get new powers to force Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to illegal file-sharing websites, according to an EU legal expert.

ISPs could be forced to block any websites which host copyright-infringing material, it was suggested today, and similar injunctions could lawfully be levelled at the owners of the websites. But any block would have to target only illegal material and ensure that access to anything else remained possible.

The EU Court of Justice will rule on a legal case concerning the powers imminently, but advice from Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalón today said that it would be lawful. In most cases the judges act on advice given by the Advocate General.

The case centres around a legal dispute between major Austrian ISP UPC Telekabel Wien and movie production companies Constantin Film Verleih and Wega Filmproduktionsgesellschaft, which asked for a block to be placed on the website kino.to where users could download or stream copyrighted films. Europe's highest court was prompted to review the matter when the Austrian Supreme Court sought clarification on the extent of existing legal powers.

According to German prosecutors the site saw four million unique visits between 2008 and 2011. It is thought that around 96 per cent of those visits came from within Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The site has since been taken down, but the Advocate General ruled today that there were “numerous similar cases”.

It was suggested by the Advocate General that copyright holders should still go directly to those running websites that host infringing material to seek removal, but that it may still be necessary for national courts to step in if the problem persists. He said that it would certainly be legal for courts to make banning orders.

“In practice, the operators of illegal websites and the internet providers which make them available online are frequently based outside Europe or conceal their identity, making it difficult to pursue them before the courts,” he said.

The advice given was that ISPs could not create blanket bans, but that each case would have to be considered by the courts to “weigh the fundamental rights of the parties”.

“A specific blocking measure concerning a specific website is not disproportionate, in principle," he said.